Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993                   TAG: 9305130083
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN and LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

POLICE SAY STALKER RUMOR FALSE

"It's just a rumor that started and got out of hand," said investigations Sgt. Roger Robinson.

According to the rumor, the man was associated with another man who was stalking schoolchildren in Roanoke last year, Robinson said.

Police said the rumor started after a man was seen in the Oak Grove community fishing through trash cans. Police interviewed him Wednesday.

Robinson said police have no evidence linking the man to stalking. He has agreed to stay away from neighborhoods in Oak Grove.

The stalker rumor apparently gained momentum after two elementary schools prepared information for parents relating to a possible stalker.

After receiving reports that a man had followed a busload of Cave Spring Elementary School pupils on three occasions, the school sent letters home with the bus riders, said Judy Miller, assistant principal.

The letter was general, informing parents about procedures their children should follow if they encounter strangers, Miller said. The letter also informed parents about a neighborhood meeting that had been scheduled to discuss the matter, she said.

But school officials have since learned that reports were based on erroneous information, Miller said.

"It's gotten blown way out of proportion," she said. "It was a flash fire that didn't amount to anything."

Oak Grove Elementary School had prepared fliers about the alleged stalker but pulled them after learning that some of the information they had received was not true, a school spokeswoman said Wednesday.